Find yourself struggling with guilt? In recent posts we’ve discussed choosing grace instead of guilt and learning the difference between healthy and unhealthy guilt. Today we’re turning to the Bible. To find the help and hope that’s available to us. To see what God has to say about guilt.
So, if you’re struggling with guilt today, you’ve come to the right place. Please know you’re not alone. Many of us are familiar with feelings of guilt and shame. Some of us are working through guilt we’ve carried far too long.
But, God is not a god who desires us to stay stuck in our guilt. No. He wants to use the healthy kind of guilt for our good… to mold us, to shape us, and to help us become the people He desires for us to be. He wants to free us of the unhealthy kind of guilt, so we can live in true freedom through His grace and mercy.
Allow the following verses to encourage your heart and to inspire hope within.
11 Bible Verses To Cling To When You’re Struggling With Guilt
1. Therefore there is now no condemnation [no guilty verdict, no punishment] for those who are in Christ Jesus [who believe in Him as personal Lord and Savior].
Romans 8:1 AMP
Believing in Jesus allows us to be guilt-free and not condemned.
2. Measure how high heaven is above the earth; God’s wide, loving, kind heart is greater for those who revere Him. You see, God takes all our crimes—our seemingly inexhaustible sins—and removes them. As far as east is from the west, He removes them from us.
Psalm 103:11-12 VOICE
When we confess our sins, God removes them from us. Forever.
3. You are my little children, so I am writing these things to help you avoid sin. If, however, any believer does sin, we have a high-powered defense lawyer—Jesus the Anointed, the righteous—arguing on our behalf before the Father.
1 John 2:1 VOICE
Jesus doesn’t leave us when we mess up and sin. No. He goes to bat for us with God. He stands up for us and restores us.
4. Anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come.
2 Corinthians 5:17 GNT
Yes! Our old ways of life no longer have power over us. We are new!
5. People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.
Proverbs 28:13 NLT
God gives us His mercy when we confess our sins. As a result, we can show ourselves mercy as well.
6. But if we own up to our sins, God shows that He is faithful and just by forgiving us of our sins and purifying us from the pollution of all the bad things we have done.
1 John 1:9 VOICE
God, in His faithfulness, not only forgives us, but purifies us from every wrong thing we’ve done.
7. I will be merciful when they fail, and I will erase their sins and wicked acts out of My memory as though they had never existed.
Hebrews 8:12
This might be my favorite verse on guilt. God erases our sins in His merciful love toward us, therefore, it’s as if our sins had never existed in His memory. Because God doesn’t remember them, we can choose to forget them as well.
8. We have been set free because of what Christ has done. Because he bled and died our sins have been forgiven. We have been set free because God’s grace is so rich.
Ephesians 1:7 NIRV
God in his grace has set us free. Because God has forgiven us, we can forgive ourselves.
9. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
John 3:17 NIV
If we ever feel condemned, this verse reminds us Jesus does not condemn us. He saves and rescues us.
10. Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.
Romans 3:23-24 MSG
Because we are human and we cannot be perfect, God put us in right standing with Himself and has restored us through Jesus.
11. Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.
Psalm 31:1-2 NIV
Our sins do not count against us. God blesses us as He forgives us. Hallelujah!
If you’re finding yourself struggling with guilt today, which one encourages you the most? Which one will you apply to your life today?
God bless you, friend.
Thank you for these precious, reassuring words from the WORD!
You’re welcome, friend!